Carly Fiorina,  Fred_Davis

CA-Sen: Did the Demon Sheep Hurt Carly Fiorina?

Carly Fiorina’s Demon Sheep Ad

Probably not and quite the contrary. Look at this analysis in this way.

When the the Senate campaign of Carly Fiorina rolled out the now infamous “demon sheep” online video, Washington pundits roared with derision. However, the Fiorina campaign was focused on a very specific audience — a small slice of the overall electorate — primary voters in California. The video bounced from the Web onto cable networks, where conservative California primary voters saw it and absorbed its key message. Fiorina won her primary over Tom Campbell with 56% of the vote. It always pays to know your ultimate intended audience.

The bottom line: What happens in social media doesn’t necessarily stay in social media … but that’s OK if it’s part of your strategy.

Indeed, Carly Fiorina handily beat Tom Campbell (the candidate target) and Chuck DeVore (the novice who tried to capitalize on Washington punditry). But, Fiorina did not win the race against Democrat senator Barbara Boxer for the reasons discussed previously.

Fred Davis’s Demon Sheep Ad although ridiculed at the time, was misunderstood and very effective.